Anyone looking for great pearls of hockey pool wisdom should be advised that this blog is counter-intuitive - it is more about how NOT to pick a winning hockey pool team, and should therefore be taken with a very large grain of salt. In fact, take the ten points and do just the opposite and you will be far better off (you may even win your pool!).
Two further pieces of caution:
1. In my 42 years on this planet, I have won exactly 1 hockey pool (regular season, 2009-10, office pool of 9 teams).
2. In a university residence playoff pool in the late 1980's, I finished second with a guy on my team who broke his leg before the regular season ended ( I managed to score a lot of Oilers and Bruins in that pool, when the Oilers won the 1990 Cup). Afterward, and probably even to this day, there are guys around North America who live by the "Pat Flatley Rule" - full disclosure on injuries before a pick is finalized.
Now, for your reading enjoyment, I present to you
Top 10 Signs Your Playoff Hockey Pool Team Will Not Win
10. You didn't check the injury report (see aforementioned "Pat Flatley Rule")
9. You don't know the names of the teams (the Pirates play in Portland in the AHL, and in Pittsburgh in the MLB, but not in Pittsburgh in the NHL)
8. You have a bunch of guys named "Kessel", "Lupul" and "Phaneuf" (this holds true for just about any year)
7. You pick your team based on availability for the World Hockey Championships (those points don't count)
6. Your team was picked in February (the season ends on Sunday, April 10)
5. Your team could be featured on "What Not to Wear" (great show on TLC, but nothing to do with hockey)
4. You picked only siblings for your team (great if you manage to wrangle a coupld of Sedins; not so great if you drafted a couple of Sutters)
3. Your first overall pick was Pittsburgh Center "Bill" Crosby
2. You chose guys based on how much their names sounded like Saturday morning cartoon characters (like "Teemu" and "Tootoo")
And the number one Sign that Your Playoff Hockey Pool Team Will Not Win
1. It is exactly like mine.
Good luck and have fun (Go Oilers Go!)
